Windmill-gearing



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' A (No Model.)

G. 'H PATTISGN.

WINDMILL GBARING.

.d a f M 0 i Mo Q\ INVENTQR y ATTORNEYS.,

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-:Sheet 2. Gr. H. PATTISON.

WINDMILL HEARING.

No.. 321,150. Patelfted July 7, 1885,.

F @if Il I A WITNESSES: l 'I INVENTOR y' v A Q/,Q

ATTORNEY IhvITEn STATES PATnNT Ormea.

GEORGE H. PATTISON, OF FREEPORT, ILLINOIS.

WINDNIILL-GEARING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 321,750, dated July 7, 1885.

Application filed Juno i', 1885. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. PA'rrrsoN, a resident of Freeport, in the county of Stephenson and State of Illinois,haveinvented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Vindmill-Gearings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in windmill-gearings, and is fully described, eX- plained, and claimed in the following specification, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lisa central vertical section of a windmill-gearing embodying my invention; Fig.2, a similar view of a gearing having the same construction, but having gears of relative pro portions somewhat different from those shown in Fig. l.

In both the figures the arrows on the gears are intended to indicate the same directions of rotation as if the gears were shown in elevation.

In these views, A is a windmill-tower of any ordinary construction, and B an iron plate bolted to the top of the tower. G is a turntable resting on anti-friction balls D, which lie in an annular groove in the plate, and E a cylindrical neck extending downward from the turn-table through a circular central opening in the plate. G is a shaft-bearing formed integrally with the turntable, and F is a wind-wheel shaft journaled in said bearing and having on its inner end a rigidly-mounted miter-gea-r, I. A preferably hollow vertical shaft, H, is journaled near its upper end in the center of the turntable, and a miter-gear, I, is mounted rigidly on said shaft just above the turntable, and engages with the gear I already mentioned, the lower end of the shaft being held in place by means hereinafter described. I7 is mounted rigidly on the neck E, and serves not only to connect the turn-table with other gearing, but also prevents any upward motion'of the turn-table. At one side of the vertical axis of the mill is a vertical shaft,M, journaled at the top in the top plate, B, and at the bottom in a bearing, L, preferably c onnected with the top plate by an integrallyformed bracket,K. On the shaft M are mount- Below the top plate, B, a spur-gear,-

ed two spur-gears, I Il", formed in a single piece or rigidly connected, the gear I being in engagement with the turn-table gear I,and the gear IIV being in engagement with a spurgear, l", loosely mounted on the shaft H. Be low the gear IV is aspur-gear, I, rigidly connected with the gear Iv by the sleeves N N, or by any other suitable means, and below the gear I is a hub, R, fastened rigidly to the shaft H and supporting two outwardly-extending horizontal arms and two vertical gudgeons, M M, formed on the outer ends of the horizontal arms. On-each of the gudgeons is mounted a pla11etwheel, II, engaging with the gear I, and an internal gear, T, mounted on a preferably hollow vertical shaft, H', `engages both the wheels IVH. The shaft H is in a straight line with the shaft H, and is journaled near its upper end in a bearing, V, which is attached to the tower, and supports the internal gear, T. From its upper bearing,V, the shaft H extends downward to the foot of the tower, where it may be connected in any suitable manner with machinery to be operated by the power of the mill. The upper end ofthe shaft H enters a socket in the base of the hub R, and thus holds the lower end of the shaft H in place, and suitable collars, O O Q Q, on the gudgeons M M keep the gears I711 in their proper positions on the gudgeons.

The operation of the gearing above described is as follows: First, if the turntable be held stationary while the wind-wheel shaft is rotated in its bearing, the power of the mill being sufficient to turn the power transmitting shaft H', and the rotation of the windwheelshaft and its gear I being in the direction indicated by the arrow on the gear, the gear I', the shaft H, and the gudgeons MM, with their supportingarms, must all turn together in the direction indicated by the arrows on the gear I, and on the horizontal arm supporting the gudgeon M. This movement of the gud geo'ns M M carries the planet-wheels II bodily about the shaft H in the direction of rotation of the shaft; and since the gear I"I with which the planet-wheels engage is held stationary by the stationary turn-table, the planet-wheels must roll around said gear wheel, and in so doing must rotate abouttheir rel spectiveaxes,asindicatedbythearrows ontheir faces. One complete bodilyrevolution of the planet-wheels about the shaftH rotates thein- ICO ternalgear/I, once on its axisin the direction indicated by the arrow on the internal gear,and this rotation of the internal gear is necessarily augmented by the rotation of the planetgears about their respective axes. In the drawings, the planet'gears are of the same diameter as the gear I, and each of them has therefore a diameter one-third that of the internal gear, T. Consequently, each of the planet-gears, in one bodily revolution about the shaft H, is rotated once on its own axis by reason of its connection with the gear I, and therefore adds one-third to the rotation of the gear T caused by the mere bodily revolution of the planet-wheels. In other words, so long as the turn-table is stationary one rotation of the shaft H or of the windwheel shaft produces one and onethird revolutions of the interna-l gear, T, and shaft H. At the same time that the rotation of the wind-wheel shaft in its bearing tends to rotate the shaft H and gear T the resistance of the work performed by the shaft H produces a reacting force that extends throughout the train of gearing. Thus each rotation of the wind-wheel shaft in its bearing tends to roll the gear I once about the gear I, and thus to rotate the turn-table C once in the direction indicated by the arrow thereon; and,on the other hand, each rotation of the shaft H and gudgeons M M in the direction indicated lby the arrow on the gear I has a tendency (in consequence of the resistance offered by the gear T) to roll the planetwheels I"n about the internal gear, and thus t0 rotate the gear I four times in the direction indicated by the arrow on said gear. This reaction of the gear I is communicated by the gears IY II" I to the turn-table gear I, and tends to turn it i n the direction indicated by the arrow on its faee-that is, in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow on the turn-table. The gear I tends, however, to rotate four times foreach rotation of the shaft H, while the turntable tends to rotate once for each rotation of the wind-wheel shaft; and in order that the force communicated from the gear I to the gear I may balance the force ap plied to the turn-table through the engagement of the gears I I, I have given the gear IY a diameter half that of the gear I1" and the gear I a diameter half that of the gear I, so that the four rotations of the gear I, when communicated to the turn-table gear I, are reduced to a single rotation. In other words, if the shaft F and gear I be rotated while the gear T is held stationary, each rotation of the gear Itends to turn the turn-table once in the direction indicated by the arrow thereon, and at the same time each such rotation of the gear I tends to turn the turn-table gear I once in the direction indicated by the arrow on its face. The two forces thus brought to bear on the turn-table exactly balance each other, and the turn-table remains at restthat is to say, the resistance of the work performed by the mill does not tend to swivel the turn-table or to throw the mill out of the wind; second, if the shaft H and gear T be held stationary and the turn-table be rotated in the direction indicated by thc arrow 011 the gear I, each rotation of the turn-table rotates the gear I" four times in the same direction, and the gear I" carries with it the gear I. The fou r rotations ofthe gear I roll the planetgears II once about the internal gear, T, and thus turn the shaft H once in thesame direction with the turn-table; and since the turntable C and the shaft I-I turn in the same direction and at the same rate of speed, the gears I I are turned bodily about the vertical axis of the mill, but have no motion with relation to each other; hence the shaft F is not rotated in its bearing or in any way affected by the swiveling of the turn-table-that is, the turn-tablemay be rotated at will without rotating the wind-wheel shaft F or the powertransmitting shaft H.

From the foregoing explanation of the operation of the gearing shown it appears that this gearing meet-s all the requirements of a perfectly-balanced windmill-train, since the resistance of the work does not tend to swivel the mill, and the swiveling of the mill has no effect on the wind-wheel or on the work. This result is due not only to the number and relative arrangement of the gears, but also to the fact that if the gear T be held stationary and the loose gears I" Il" be rotated, this rotation turns the shaft H and the turn-table gear I in the same direction and at the same rate of speed, and this fact results from the ratio of the gears I" I" I I. lVhen the gear T is stationary, four rotations of the gear I are required to produce one rotation of the shaft H, and the gears I" II" I I are therefore so proportioned as to give the gear I a rotation one-fourth that of the gear I". The relative sizes of the gears T I I"II may evidently be so changed as to increase or diminish the number of rotations of the gear I required to produce one rotation of the shaft H, and whenever such change is made the ratio of the rotation of the gear I" to that of the gear I must be changed accordingly, in order to preserve the perfect balance of the mechanism. Thus, if the gears T I I"II be so changed that three rotations of the gear 1 will produce one rotation of the shaft H, the gears Iv I" I I must be so altered that three rotations of the gear I" will cause 011e rotation of the gear I. Vhatever may be the relative sizes of the wheels I IYU and the internal gear, T, however, when the gear T is held stationary and the gear I is rotated, more than one rotation of the gear I must be required to produce one rotation of the shaft H, and consequently the gears IV I must be connected by such gearing that the motion of the gear I" is more rapid than that of the gear I, hence it follows that a train of gears corresponding in number and arrangement to those shown in the drawings, but having the gears I I Il" Iv so proportioned that the gears I I" rotate at the same rate of speed, must nec- IOO IIO

essarily be imperfectly balanced, no matter what may be the relative sizes of the gears IVI IVII T.

In Fig. 2 is shown a train o/f gearing i11- volving the same number of similarly-arranged gears as are shown in Fig. l. The proportions of the gears IVI IVII T are the same as those of the correspondingparts in Fig. l;

but the gears I I IIV IV are so proportionedthat thc speed of rotation of the gear IV is considerably less than four times that of the gear I". The consequence is that when the gear T is held stationary and the turn-table is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow ou the gear I, each rotation of the turn-table produces less than four rotations of the gears Iv and I, and since four rotations of the gear I"I are required to cause one rotation of the shaft H, it follows that the diminution of the number of rotations of the gear Iv1 cuts down the rotation of the shaft H to less than one complete revolution. The turn-table thus rolates faster than the shaft H, and consequently the gears I I move with relation to each other, and the shaft F rotates in its bearing-that is, the rotation of the turn-table rotates thewindwheel shaft in its bearing if the power-transmitting shaft be held stationary, and the mechanism thus fails to meet the test which may be applied to any perfectly-balanced gearing of this class. At the same time, however, that ihe absolutely balanced gearing `requires that the ratio of the speed of thegear lV to that of the gear I shall be the same as that of the gear IVI to the shaft H, one of these ratios may be somewhat greater or less than the other without making the mechanism absolutely inoperative; and since I am, as I believe, the first to show a gearing of this form in which the speed of rotation of the gear I is different from that of the gear I", I do not desire to limit my invention to the absolutely perfect form shown in Fig. 1.

In both the gures, and throughout the foregoing description and explanation, reference is made to two planet-gears, Il, and the use of both of said gears is desirable as giving an equal pressure on two opposite points of the gear I". One of them may, however, be dispensed with without materially changing the mechanism.

In my patent of Julie 2, 1SS5, I have shownV Y and claimed certain features which are shown and described in this application. Without particularly specifying the elements which have been so shown and claimed in said prior patent, I hereby disclaim any novelty for the mechanism covered by this application except such as is set forth in the following claims, t0 Wit:

l. In a windmill of the class described, the combination of a rotating turn-table, a windwheel shaft journaled therein, and a gear formed upon or rigidly attached to the turntable, a vertical shaft journaled in the turn table and connected by suitable gears with the wind-wheel shaft, a power-transmitting internal gear having its axis coincident with the axis of said vertical shaft, a planetgear supported by and rotating bodily with said vertical shaft, and engaging with said internal gear, a gear mounted loosely on said vertical shaft and engaging with said planetgear, and gearing connecting said looselymounted gear and said turn-table gear,where by the rotation of either the turn-table gear or the loosely-mounted gear rotates the other at a different rate of speed.

2. The combination of a turn-table rotating freely about the vertical axis of the mill, a wind-wheel shaft journaled in said turntable, a vertical shaft also journaled in the turn-table, and gearing connecting the windwheel shaft and said vertical shaft, a spurgear, I, rigidly mounted on the turn-table, a power-transmitting internal gear, T, independent of the vertical shaft,a planet-gear, Il, supported by said vertical shaft and engaging with said internal gear, a looselymounted gear, IVI, turning freely on said vertical shaft, and gearing connecting the gears IVI I, whereby the gear IVI is rotated at a higher rate of speed than the gear I, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of the turn-table, the spur-gear I, rigidly mounted thereon, and the vertical shaft H, journaled therein, the power-transmitting internal gear,T, the planetwheel IV, supported by the vertical shaft H and engaging with said internal gear, the gear I, loosely mounted on said vertical shaft and engaging with said planet wheel, and gearing, substantially as shown and described, connecting the gears I I, whereby the rotation of the turntable, when the internal gear is stationary, rotates the shaft H in the same direction and at the same rate of speed, substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

4. The combination of the turn-table, the wind-wheel shaft journaled therein, and the beveled gear I, mounted on said wind-wheel shaft, the vertical shaft H and the beveled gear I/, engaging with the gear I, the powerw transmitting internal gear,T, the planet-gear IV, supported by and turning bodily with the shaft H and engaging with the internal gear, T, the loosely-mounted gear I, engaging with the planetgear, and the gear IV, turning with said gear I, the turntable gear I and the gears l Il", connecting the gears I IV,wh ereby, when the internal gear, T, is held stationary and the gear IVI is rotated,the turntable gear Il and the shaft H are rotated in the same direction and at the same rate of speed, substantially as shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEQRGE HA PATTISON.

Witnesses:

R. F. HAYES, JAMEs H. SrEARNs. 

